'Avengers' Help Disney Rank First As Media Company

Walt Disney takes the No 1 spot among rankings of top media companies for 2012. Disney posted $42.3 billion in revenue in 2012, up 3.4%, while lifting net income 17.4% to
$6.2 billion.

Media researcher SNL Kagan analyzes both total annual revenues and profitability (and losses) when coming up with its list.

Much of Disney’s gain
came from a mega-theatrical hit “The Avengers," even as Disney weathered a major bomb that came with “John Carter.

News Corp. was in second place when it came to revenues: $33.7
billion, inching up 0.9%. But News Corp. took a major hit because of its publishing business, which will be spun off from the company. From all of this, News Corp. witnessed a 51% drop in annual net
income to $1.4 billion. All that pushed News Corp. from its position of second place a year ago in the category to eighth place in 2012.

Time Warner was in third place in revenue -- $28.7
billion, down 0.8% -- the same spot on the list as 2011. The company improved its profitability picture -- up 4.6% from 2011 to $3 billion -- which was good for second place behind Disney, up from
third place in 2011.